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(No Model.) l RQ H. ISBBLL.

RAILROAD SWICEGH.

No, 358,398. Patented Pb'. 2g, 1887.. y

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www By Sfiorny N4 PEYERS Equurittiagrqpef. washington D. c.

. i UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT H. ISBELL, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR, BY DIRECT AND MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO GEORGE F. BETIS, OF SAME PLACE, AND WALTER S. LOGAN, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

RAILROAD-SWITCH.

SPECIFICATION orrninig part of Letters Patent No. 358,398, dated February 22, 1857.

Application filed May 13, 1886. Serial No. 9.02.0135. (No model.)

.To all whom may concern:

Be it known that l, ROBERT H. IsBELL, of the city of NewYork, in the county of N ew York and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Railroad- Switches and in the Method of Shifting and Locking the Same, of which the following is a specification.

My invention is of a railroad-switch in ro which two connected toggle-joints, forming a double toggle-joint, are used to move and lock the switch by means of a single motion of a lever attached thereto.

It consists more particularly in such a con- I5 struction and operation of parts that the switch shall be self-locking whenever set in the desired position.

Figure 1 is a view of said switch, looking from above;4 Fig. 2 is a vertical cross section 2o on the line X X of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a View, looking from above, of a modified form of said switch.

A A represent the fixed rails, and B B the movable rails, of the switch, which are connected together by the rod a and the plate b. Under the rod a is the metal arm C, bolted to the rod at d at one of the ends, and holding between its other` end and the rod a one end of the bar D. The rod a, arm C, and bar D, and 3o the iliange of the movable rail B just above them, are all securely bolted together by the bolt e, passing through them. The bar D passes loosely under the fixed rail A and under the cross-pieces E F, which are bolted on top 3 5 of the cross-ties G H. A cross-bar, I, fastened to the cross-pieces E F underneath them by the bolts fg h i, has slots cut in it, into which fits and slides horizont-ally back and forth the bar D. The double toggle-joint K, .to composed of the arms j Z m n, pivoted to each other Yso as to move freely,`has its arm j at one end pivoted to the cross-piece F, its arm n at the other end pivoted to the cross-piece E, and its two arms Z and m pivoted to each other and to the bar D at one point. An opeiatnglever, L, is pivoted at one endv to the 'arma and at its other end to the arm j of the double toggle-joint K. A projecting arm of the operating-lever L extends outward under the cross-piece F, and is sustained by a bar, 5o M, bolted to the under side of the cross-piece F, said bar M having an open slot or groove cut in its top, which allows the arm of the operating-lever free play to move backward and forward within the desired limits.

To the end of the arm of the operating-lever may be pivoted aconnecting-rod,N,leading i to the switclrlever O, to the bottom of which the end of the rod N is pivoted. The switchlever O stands pivotcd on a projecting piece, 6o P, so that it can be pushed back and forth, as demanded. y

The operation of the device is as follows: Vhen the switch-lever O is left upright, as shown in the drawings, the rod N pulls the arm of the operatinglever L as far back as it will go in the open slot in which it plays. This of course pulls backward the end of the operaling-lcver nearest the arm, and whichis pivoted to the togglejoint arm j, and draws 7o this arm and fthe connected arm Z' along with it, throwing them ont of the straight line, while the farther end of the rockshaft,whicli is pivoted to the arm n, is pushed forward, and thus pushes the arm n and the arm in pivoted thereto) as far as they will go-that is, it drives them into a straight line with each other, and this same movement of pushing the arms m and n into a straight line and of pulling the armsj and l until they stand at 8o an angle has also pushed the bar D, (since it is pivotcd to the arms Z and 111,) and the bar D has carried with it in its Lmovementfthe moving rails B B, attached to each other and to said bar D. The parts are all so adjusted that 8 5 the amount of movement allowed to the operating-lever will be just that which will bring the arms m and n into line, or the armsj and Z into line, supposing the movement of the switch lever to be reversed. Ihatjp same 9o amount of movement is also arranged to carry the bar D just so far backward or forward that it will bring the moving rail 'B on one side or the other up close against the corresponding fixed rail, A, according as the switch-lever is turned; but when either of the two 'sets of arms j Z or in n are straight the movable rails B B cannot be moved, except bymovingthe bar, B.

switch-lever O, and remain xed in the position in which they are set, since the bar D is held fast bybeing pivoted to two arms which are set in a straight line parallel to the bar and bear solidly against one of the cross-pieces E or F, and since the rails B B cannot move when the bar D cannot; but by pulling the switch-lever O as far as it will go, one straight line of the double toggle-joint is broken, the bar D is pulled along in breaking the straight line, the rails B are pulled with it, and at the same time another straight line of the other two arms ofthe toggle-joint is formed, acting t0 prevent the bar Dfrom moving back again and thus locking the switch.

Theform of mechanism shown in Fig. l, and already described, I consider preferable; but a modification is shown in Fig. 3, where the cross-pieces E and F are connected by a cross- A recess is out into the bar D' deep enough to receive the double toggle-joint K, which is pivoted at each of its ends to an inner end of one of the portions of the bar D', which lies beyond the recess. |Ihe togglejoint is pivotcd at the connecting-point of its two inner arms to the crossbar B, and the arms j and n are respectively pivoted to an operatinglevel', Q, having projecting arm, which is in turn pivoted to the end of the rod N, connecting with the switch-lever O.` The operating-lever Qhas one end slotted to allow the pin connecting it with the link n.' a slight motion in the slot. At its other point of connection with the toggle-joint there is a yoke or keeper, fr,which embraces the top and bottom of the operating-lever, and the pin y, that forms the pivotal connection between the operating-lever and the other half of the togglejoint, passes through the yoke, the lever, and the toggle-joint. The moving rails B are connected with the inner end of the bar D', as before, and the operation of the device is the same as already described. The rod N pulls or pushes the operating-lever Q. This movemeut sets two adjacent arms of the togglejoint straight and the other two at an angle, at the same time pulling or pushing the bar D backward or forward, and moving one or the other of the rails B up against the fixed rail A corresponding thereto. The switch is locked, as before, by the two arms in a straight line, preventing the movement of the bar D,which holds the rails B B fast, and is unlocked, changed, and relocked on the other side by a reverse pull of the switch-lever O.

I claiml. In a switch, the combination, with the double toggle-joint having four links, of an operating-lever pivotally connected with and fulcrumed on said links, substantiallyas described.

2. In a switch, the combination of the movable rails B B, bar D, connected therewith, double toggle-joint K, having two of its links working on fixed centers and pivoted to said bar, and the operating-lever fulcrumed on said toggle-joint, all substantially as and for the purposes described.

3. In a. switch, the combination of the movable rails B B, bar D, double toggle-joint K, a lever, as L, fulcrumcd on said toggle-joint, and means for operating said lever, substantially as and for the purposes described.

4. In a switch, and in combination with the movable rails thereof, the bar D, connected with said rails, a double toggle-joint consisting of two pairs of links, having the nearest ends of the two pairs of links pivotally attached to said bar and their opposite ends working on fixed pivots, and an operating-lever pivotally connected to both pairs of links and fulcrumed thereon, substantially as described.

5. The combination ofthe movable rails B,

a bar, D, connecting' said rails, two pairs of 85 ROBERT H. ISBELL.

Witnesses:

SAML. R. BETTs, WILLIAM J. GEARY. 

